Thinking of buying a new boat.??

[porkpie]

I have a 10 year old Starcraft superfisherman 18.  I bought it used 3 years ago.  It’s held up pretty nicely for a 10 year old boat.  I looked at new pricing when I wanted to go to an 18.  I really didn’t want to be paying for it long term and it was a lot of money.  I bought a well kept slightly older boat and have been very happy, and I own it!  The Starcraft is rock solid in rough water on Erie and Ontario.  I’ve only ever owned either Lund or Starcraft and so far never disappointed.  My first Lund 16 is still in great shape 18!years down the road and a buddy is happily using it still with no failures.  I owned a used Starcraft 16 and a used Lund 16 since that boat and both where great.  I expect to keep the superfisherman for a good long time.  I’ve never talked to guys that where super pleased with their legends, and I personally know of one guy that has his tracker crack.  If it where my money I’d steer clear of tracker or legend.  I’ve heard they are nearly as much as the big names when properly equipped with adequate horsepower anyway.

Edited October 28, 2019 by porkpie

[DRIFTER_016]

53 minutes ago, tb4me said:

So I was out to my local dealer. Had a look at the new smoker crafts. Man are they ever nice . I hear what a few of you have said about buying used.  It seems as though the banks only want to finance a new boat. I still want to go check out the crestliner and alumna crafts. Who sells them in the hamilton brantford area?

Proctor marine sells both so head on down to Simcoe.

Crestliner:  DEWILDT MARINE HAMILTON

450 Lake Avenue North
Hamilton , ON L8E 3C2
Phone: 905-573-6559/888-656-7570
Fax: 905-573-8863

Proctor Marine, Ltd
487 Queensway West
Simcoe, ON N3Y 4R5

519-426-0653

 

Alumacraft: Proctor Marine, Ltd
487 Queensway West
Simcoe, ON N3Y 4R5

519-426-0653

Revs Full Throttle Powersports

42 Darte Drive

Welland, ON L3B 5Y7

905-732-7524

 

[porkpie]

https://www.swmarineservices.com/inventory/2009-starcraft-fishmaster-196-grand-bend-on-n0m-1t0-10292974i

This is a heck of a boat for $20K. If I was in the market, I wouldnt waste any time.

[DRIFTER_016]

21 minutes ago, porkpie said:

https://www.swmarineservices.com/inventory/2009-starcraft-fishmaster-196-grand-bend-on-n0m-1t0-10292974i

This is a heck of a boat for $20K. If I was in the market, I wouldnt waste any time.

I'd buy that in a heartbeat!!!

 

[BillM]

Absolutely, for 20k that Starcraft isn't going to last long.

[Old Man]

Had  a Crestliner Fishhawk for 12 years with no problems. That said, my new Kingfisher  is better build quality, materials and fit and finish,. Mind you, it’s quite a bit more money.

[Therealgooseman]

I bought a 2018 Smokercraft Pro Angler XL 161 with a 2018 90HO hp Evenirude at the end of last year and have absolutely loved the boat. I looked at a bunch of other brands and they all have some things that I liked better/worse but smokercraft met most of my wants. The 90HO motor is just amazing, the hole shot is instantaneous and top end is in the low 40's.. My previous boat was a 1997 Sea Nymph FM161 with a 50 Johnson, severed me well for many years but cant even compare to the new boat.

If you have any questions PM me and I will answer them as best I can

Scott

[AKRISONER]

I am also going to chime in about the Smokercraft hull failures...My best friend had an 10 year old smokercraft that is "smoked" the rivets blew and she sank. Not to mention the thing felt like you were getting in a car crash with every bit of chop or boat wake you hit.

Myself and the close people that I associate with fish out of/have fished out of Smokercraft, starcraft, Lund, Crestliner, Alumacraft, Glasstron, Skeeter, Triton, Basscat (understanding the last 4 are glass boats)

Myself/my dad have run Yamaha, suzuki, johnson and mercury outboards.

Ill lay it out simply, Hulls - The smokercraft sank. The starcraft is 12 years old, is fine, but kinda rides like crap, the Lund Crestliner and Alumacraft all look great, but the styling/finish of the lund and alumacraft is probably a bit nicer. The alumcrafts have Lund quality at a slightly lower price IMO. The hulls on em make them like tanks, stable, unshakable fishing beasts.

Outboards?

The Johnson is dead (electrical issues that left us stranded multiple times)

the 2012 mercury causes us grief more electrical issues (my best friends mercury's lower end leaks like sieve its 6 years old)

my 88 Suzuki on my starcraft runs just fine having never been properly winterized and treated like crap its entire life. We clean the carb occasionally with carb cleaner and run a can of seafoam through it and it runs first pull.

My 98 Yamaha 130 is bone stock and runs like the day it was bought and gets tournament driven and takes me out on the lake for over 300 fishing hours a year, the lower end has 0 water in it every fall and the 2 stroke starts easily and runs clean with minimal smoke. 

the 2016 four stroke yamaha is like a car, it hasnt had a single issue yet

Close family friend runs an evinrude G1 and has had electrical issues.

Thats plainly put for your consideration. Its my raw experience with no real bias, its just reality.

I will also say BUY USED! I bought my 98 skeeter for $9,000, came with a trolling motor and stainless prop and I put about $2000 of work into it, upgrading electronics, trolling motor, rewiring, new seats and the thing is a tournament fishing machine. Its not a hulking beast like a 20 foot bassboat, but has a couple storage compartments, a rod locker, two livewells and goes 55mph. Does pretty much everything you could ask of a boat. I get compliments regularly at the launch about how nice my boat is. Not bad if you ask me for $11,000. 

 

 

[dave524]

Kinda strange about Smokercraft hull failures, I always thought that Smokercraft, Sylvan and Starcraft all started with the same hull ?

[AKRISONER]

50 minutes ago, dave524 said:

Kinda strange about Smokercraft hull failures, I always thought that Smokercraft, Sylvan and Starcraft all started with the same hull ?

Starcraft and smoker were the same, not sure about sylvan as I don’t know about them. 

[Therealgooseman]

Lots of stories about older Smokercraft hulls with issues but seemed to have been resolved around 2005/2006. They also offer a lifetime warranty on their hulls. 

I agree with the Lund and Crestliner maybe a little nicer boat but I rode in a 2018 Lund Rebel and the rough water ride in the smokercraft was better in my opinion. It may have to do with the wider beam on a the Pro Angler xl. 

Edited October 29, 2019 by Therealgooseman
Wording

[AKRISONER]

1 hour ago, Therealgooseman said:

Lots of stories about older Smokercraft hulls with issues but seemed to have been resolved around 2005/2006. They also offer a lifetime warranty on their hulls

The one that I know that sank was later than 06 and they couldn’t make a warranty claim...

[Therealgooseman]

10 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

The one that I know that sank was later than 06 and they couldn’t make a warranty claim...

Only a few reasons why a warranty claim is denied and usually has to do with improper use... could explain hull issues 

[Terry]

Yeah it would be crazy talk to say a boat manufacturer would try to get out of honouring their warranty 

 

yeah 

[dave524]

2 hours ago, AKRISONER said:

Starcraft and smoker were the same, not sure about sylvan as I don’t know about them. 

I had an 80's 18 foot Sylvan , identical to the Starcraft of that era.

 

[Old Man]

Love my Kingfisher Falcon. Mines a river jet, but the outboard Falcon is almost identical. 

https://youtu.be/MphxCznDn1Q

[OhioFisherman]

7 hours ago, Therealgooseman said:

I bought a 2018 Smokercraft Pro Angler XL 161 with a 2018 90HO hp Evenirude at the end of last year and have absolutely loved the boat. I looked at a bunch of other brands and they all have some things that I liked better/worse but smokercraft met most of my wants. The 90HO motor is just amazing, the hole shot is instantaneous and top end is in the low 40's.. My previous boat was a 1997 Sea Nymph FM161 with a 50 Johnson, severed me well for many years but cant even compare to the new boat.

If you have any questions PM me and I will answer them as best I can

Scott

I had the 1987 edition, back then they called it a 17 footer, but it was 16' 8", only 73 inches wide. Had mine until 2009, but it didn't see hardly any use after 2003. No hull or rivet issue, with a 35 hp for power it didn't go fast enough to get beat up. All my decking and transom needed to be replaced, started on it but got too sick to finish.

[GYPSY400]

Good luck with your purchase. .  BTW.. Legend, Smoker craft and Starcraft are made in the same factory.

[bigbuck]

Stick to Lund, Alumacraft, Princecraft, Crestliner, Smokercraft, those brands are more expensive for a reason. Yamaha 4stroke on the back for bulletproof reliability and you will be happy for many years to come. 

[Fishing Rod]

I've been shopping for a boat for a year and have found out a few things.

Now is the time to buy a new boat. Dealers want to move them and manufacturers are offering rebates. They are also able to give you the boat show extended warranty on the motor. 

Also now is a good time to buy a used boat, but people are starting to store them and take them off the market.

Very few good boats come up used. Finding a used Lund or Alumacraft that is only a couple of years old is almost impossible in the 18' range. Almost all used boats for sale are under powered. I caulk that up to slimy salesman selling a boat to an unknowing person at a price point they can afford. 

Be careful of people telling you how great there brand of boat is. Most people don't know s##t. (other than you guys lol) I would listen to people that have had problems though.

[AKRISONER]

thats the problem with most things when it comes to getting opinions about boats is people are very brand loyal. Just like with cars, you wont see to many dodge guys telling you how great an f150 or vice versa. 

I can honestly say with 100% conviction that having spent my life with quads, skidoos, and boats, two things are consistent. Sometimes you have a bad one, sometimes you have something that just seems to last forever.

The only weird one is that every japanese motor myself or my family or very close friends have owned has lasted. We had/have a suzuki quad from 1986 that my uncle who just passed away still had. A very good friend of mine's 85 three wheeler honda still runs (hes had the head redone), my nephews 89 suzuki 4 wheeler runs, my 88 suzuki 15 outboard still runs, and my 1998 yamaha 2 stroke outboard runs. None of them seem to die.

Go to Mexico or cuba and check what outboards they are running, they are literally 100% old beat to hell yamahas...that...still run?

That was enough to sell me when I was buying an 20 year old outboard with my boat last year. I went with what I knew would probably keep running, and not surprisingly aside from an impeller change, I havent had a single issue.

Edited October 30, 2019 by AKRISONER

[Fang]

Still got my 2001 Crestliner Fish Hawk 1750 w/115HP Merc

Haven't used it much in the last 2 years but don't think I could ever part with it

Fun place to window shop for boats, preety much all US listings and you see some very nice boats on here. Fished a few years ago out of a 21ft TUFFY - what a dream!!!

https://www.walleyecentral.com/classified/searchresults

[Fishing Rod]

My opinion is that why the Japanese outboards last so long is that they are old technology that is tried and true. 

Evenrude and Mercury both try to push the envelope .... and sometimes go boom.

[mikeh]

If you buy a boat in the US some of the outboards do not let you transfer the warranty to Canada, i believe Yamaha doesn't

[Rattletrap2]

On 10/28/2019 at 4:20 PM, irishfield said:

But there is.. Legends lose rivets.. I mean actually totally lose the rivet in numerous cases. Seat pedestals break right out of the floor. Trackers crack open and on an attempted warranty claim they'll tell you the weld didn't break so you're not covered. Of course, the weld never breaks.. it breaks beside it due to degraded material from the heat of the weld. I've fixed many for members here. Lunds and Crestliners, not so much...

When it comes to Aluminum, this man knows of what he speaks! I would listen to him!

I bought an Alumacraft Escape 165 Tiller in 2017 with a 40 HP Yamaha. I have been really pleased with it and when I went deep into it to run cables and wiring I was totally impressed with the construction of it.

I would think Crestliner and Lund are also very good names. I personally would stay away from a lot of other welded hulls for the reasons Wayne mentions. This is my third aluminum boat, all riveted hulls and never had a leak.